Midterms are the worst, right? The site Legal Insurrection picked up on one university where a student leader wanted to share a funny GIF of President Obama a few months ago to sum up students’ feelings about midterm season.

This is the GIF in question:

Yes, that GIF. The one based on a mildly amusing bit of video manipulation on The Tonight Show. Well, apparently just sharing that on the Students’ Society of McGill University listserv set off a firestorm the likes of which was pretty staggering.

There was an “overwhelmingly negative” reaction on social media at the university, with people accusing Vice President of Internal Affairs Brian Farnan of racial insensitivity for sending out the GIF.

Well, after a few months, Farnan actually apologized for the GIF, in which he: 1) Explains the joke; and 2) Says he now understands the “negative implications” of sharing a GIF that gives off feelings of “oppression.”

“The image in question was an extension of the cultural, historical and living legacy surrounding people of color—particularly young men—being portrayed as violent in contemporary culture and media. By using this particular image of President Obama, I unknowingly perpetuated this living legacy and subsequently allowed a medium of SSMU’s communication to become the site of a microaggression; for this, I am deeply sorry.”